A recent book “In the Closet of the Vatican” there is a treatise that suggests the more homophobic a priest is, the more likely he is to be a homosexual. Most of you think that this could also be a more general rule in society.
As a gay man and an atheist, who believes the church does lots of good things and some horrendous things, I should cheer the latest news that a Catholic cardinal has been defrocked for pedophilia right?
This is great that a high ranking official has been exposed, but in the back of my mind, I have always figured that there could be backlash when civil rights are extended, or wrongs have been corrected by the authorities. Since I am also a scientist I use Newton to guide me such that “action and reaction are equal and opposite” or maybe in this case, even more reaction!
Perhaps this action causes the formation of a stockpile of ammunition for militant right-wing Catholics who want to conduct a witch hunt for gay priests. Priests in the Catholic church are supposed to swear to celibacy, which is difficult for many of them. Sexual partners, gay or sex outside marriage is in their teaching.
Gathering of information on gay “activity” is also very difficult. The Catholic church probably does not want to conduct research in this area and thus they don’t want to know how many gay priests there are.
Reports of this kind may shift attention away from child abuse and onto gay priests and eventually bring back the false and debunked notion of “homosexuality are pedophiliacs. The Catholic church is an all-male collection of secrecy and dogma. It is true that abuse has no sexual orientation, and there are many cases of priests having sex with girls and adult women.
You have to wonder if many priests join the church because they are bullied and want to hide who they truly are. It may explain why so many gay men entered the priesthood, especially decades ago.
We know that it is a struggle for gays who feel the Catholic church tenants espoused by Jesus; justice, peace and caring, are their core values but the stance on homosexuality can demonize them. Famous Catholics, such as Oscar Wilde, Robert Mapplethorpe managed to excel and have a relationship with some of the teachings.
Indeed, Anglicans, Lutherans and Presbyterians support marriage and give credence to the ideas of the fluidity of interpretation of the Bible. The Black church holds a special place in the hearts and minds of Black folks. The American Methodist denomination (AME) originated as a protest against the racial discrimination experienced by people of African descent at white Methodist congregations.
AME has long been clear that the church condemns same-sex relationships and marriage equality which contradict their understanding of Scripture. Black preachers, are progressive in our social consciousness, and in our political ideology as an oppressed people we will often be against the status quo, but our first call is to hear the voice of God in our Scriptures.
This is the conundrum that black gays face when they feel proud of the church’s social activity but feel oppressed that they cannot be themselves. In addition, Black culture may well think that there’s a dearth of men. So if he’s gay, then that’s one less man.
It has been well researched black men in church “on the (DL) – down low,” that is, secretly have sex with other men while leading straight lives elsewhere.
The DL activity has been related to HIV infection rates in black communities, which are disproportionately higher than among whites. However, this has little evidence to correlate these two statements.
HIVmag.com looked at MSM (men seeking men) and talked of “two recent studies focused on HIV transmission rates among closeted gay and bisexual men in the United Kingdom” They quote that “six percent of men who identified as “straight” at the time of their HIV diagnosis had reportedly acquired the virus through sex with men.” Those same men also underestimated their own risks of contracting HIV and were less likely to be educated about those risks.
Meanwhile, and interestingly, nowadays, online site have DL profiles such as “I’m looking to have sex with men, but I don’t act or talk like the stereotype.” These seem to add an allure to the DL. It seems like that DL and the Back church is no simple answer to Black infection or sexual activity. DL maybe one type of relationship unfaithfulness common to humans.
But one of the sinister results of this discussion of black sexuality leads into the narratives of black men as predators. However, when white married men have sex with other men, society will not take that road to explain this behavior.
The real concerns here on the physical, spiritual and sexual health of Black men should be addressed.
- Economic Insecurity – LGBTQ African Americans continue to be economically disadvantaged because of persistent discrimination, housing insecurity, a lack of quality, affordable healthcare and fewer educational opportunities. Black transgender people face severe rates of poverty,
- HIV & Health Inequity – Black gay and bisexual men are among the communities most heavily affected by HIV.
- Religious Intolerance – The Christian church remains a source of both hope and trepidation for many
- Criminal Injustice – cases of police brutality and misconduct have highlighted how broken our criminal justice system really is.
We at the National Association of Black and White Men Together need to redouble our efforts to fight these inequalities by being informed on all these issues.
